River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-04-14
MADISON LETTER.
April 1887.

1
own !benefit: in the matter of passe
! they make it pretext for calling in
: all the ANIMALS which had been ISSUED
for 1881, prior to the passage OF the
act. This is as It should be. But il
so doing they disclose the hollowness
J and inconsistency of their motives 81
plainly that it is ludicrous. For in
stance the Chicago & Northwestern
and the Milwaukee & st. Paul sent out
a circular reading as follows:
Dear Sir
Counsel informs us that to con
form TO the Interstate Commerce Law
no person shall be carried free except
railroad officers and employees of rail-
roads.
viii you, therefore, kindly return
on OF before April LIST, 1887, the pass
you h0'd over this Company's lines as
it cOnnot be honored after that date
without making us liable to the penal.
ties fixed for violation of the above
named law"
This circular says mo person. ex-
cept railroad officers ana employees.
But on Tuesday, March Goth, the rep
resentatives OF these and other com
panies, distributed new annual passes
to every member of the legislature,
the elective state officers. the Judges
of the Supreme Court and other courts,
the Board of Supervision (who have
large freights to contract for and
award and the Board of Charities and
Reform. As these persons are not ex-
copied in the circular after the words,
mo person" it has been suggested by
a newspaper man that they come under
the head of railroad employees.
1t indicates very plainly two things
! that the circular above quoted is
| hypocritical mis-statement of the
reasons for calling the passes, their
right to do which is unquestioned, and
| that the companies know where to
place their faYOrs "where they will do
the most good
The Senate, by decisive vote of q
| to | refused to pass the bill requiring
| the companies to issue passes as a
matter of law TO the persons named
| above, to whom passes are already
granted as matter of policy. The
Senate also had up a resolution looking
| toward the adjustment of the pass
system entirely. The struggle over
/
Sentinel of April 9th:
1.-The greatest interest of the senate
session was clustered about the Tesolu-
ton introduced by Senator James, ask
ing that the privilege be granted him
to introduce bill to prohibit members
of the legislature, state officers and
| judges of courts of record from accept
| ing free transportation from any of
the railroad companies in the state.
The statement published this morning
that the bill was to prohibit the issu-
ance of passes to persons other than
those above named was mistake. The
intention was to shut off such officers
above L lmed and the people on
the outside were to be left free to get
all the transportation they could. 1t
was rather generally expected that the
resolution would pass the senate any
how. Many have thought that the
senate rather had the whip row on
the assembly in relation 10 the pass
question by the refusal to pass to a
third reading the assembly bill requir-
ing railroads to issue passes to the
class of persons above mentioned. How
ever the assembly has as good one on the
senate by their action to-day and it is
felt by many that hOnors are but even
to say the least on any attempted leg
iSlatiOn on the pass question.
One of the objects of the intrOduc-
ton. it is said, was to give those
senators a chance to go on record, who
desired the pass system abolished.
There was fair proportion of senators
| who when the assembly bill was be-
fore the senate desired to delay action
on the bill so it could be amended so
as to abolish the pass system. This
opportunity the senate refused and
FASTENED to kill the assembly bill. To
give the senators a chance wGo ia
vored the prohibition of the use of the
little piece of pasteboard, the resolu-
ton was introduced. But when it
came to vital issue. affecting the life
of the resolution. only four senator's
came to the rescue ct it. When the
resolution came up Tor passage, the
senate decided by VOC of fifteen to
nine that the bill should be introduced
ayes 10, noes ., as follows:
! Ayes-MessTs. COnklin, Cooper, Gin
| ty, Greene, Hurlburt, James, Ken
nedy, Kidd, Lochen, Maxwell, Merrill,
Mason, Pond, Ware and Wechselburg
Is.
Noes-Messrs. De Croft. Dyson, En-
win, Fitch. Lovejoy, PettibOne, Scho-
field, Waddington and Widule-9.
| Absent or not voting-Messrs. Buck
staff, Carey, HOyt, Day, Fritz, Klotz,
Leahy. Rust and Lins-9.
Senator Dyson then raised the point
of order that inasmuch as the senate
some time ago had passed the joint
resolution cutting off the introduction
of new business after certain time
that the resolution asking for the
privilege of introducing the bill
could not be passed without a
two-thirds vote in its favor as
it was in effect a suspension of one
of the rules of the house that its pas
sage by both houses made it rule.
This point of order was sustained in
debate by Senators Dyson, James and
Hurlburt. Senators Cooper, Kidd and
Merrill opposed iC. The president pro
TEN. Irwin) ruled the point of order
well taken. An appeal was then taken
J from the decision of the chair to the
senate. The question being whether
or not the decision of the president
should be sustained, aud the ayes and
noes being called the vote was. ayes Is,
noes 1.
All but four of the members voted
to sustain the chair and this proved t.
[ be the death knell of the resolution
seeking to abolish passes.
Some Of the senators are quite dis
satisfied with the result and it IS said
an effort will be made to amend some
appropriate bill 50 that IL will abolish
the pass system. To knock out the
effort on "A point of order does not suit
e some of the senators and they desire
e to get the matter before the senate fol
a good fair vote.
e So much for passes which are really
a great factor in the politics or ht'
state. at least-a very much greater
factor than had any idea of until
came here and saw the inside workings
, of the business.
b The Geological reprint bill is likely
: to be defeated, thanks to few men
in and out of the legislature who have
D braved the wrath of the state printers
D by opposing their scheme. II is very
probable that it will be killed in the
senate, if not in the assembly. 1t ought
2 not to receive vote. In the matter
of public interest and public educa
: ton, if the state is going to print and
distribute text or reference books
gratis, the Blue Book is of far great